Current collector for railway vehicles



I LAND R. BIENVHHJ E CURRENT COLLECTOR FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES.

APPLICATION r |u=.o AFR.15, 1920.

1,428,133, Patentedsept. 5 1922.

Patented Sept, 5, 1922,

annn iarnnvnnon AND JO$EPH ernnvnnti'n, or rams, FRANCE.

CURRENT toLLncroR-roe RAILWAY vnrxronnsf Application filed April 15, 1920. Serial No. 874,098.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RENE BIENVENI'JE and Josnrrr BInNvnNtin, both citizens of the French Republic, and both residing in the city of Paris, France, have invented new and useful Improvements in .a Current Collector for Railway Vehicles, of which the following is the specification.

This invention has for its objectv a current collector allowing a railway vehicle to establish an electric connection between this vehicle and a contact device arranged on the railway track.

In the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, given by way of example only,

Figure 1 is a front view of a wheel pro vided with a rotary shoe forming the subject-matter of this invention.

Figure 2 is an edge view of the structure seen in Fig. 1, some of the parts being in section.

Figure 3 is a partial detail section of the wheel and rolling shoe, showing the arrangement of the insulation and a method of securing in position the contact ring.

The rotary shoe, which may be mounted either on the front wheels of a locomotive, or on the wheels of a tender or wagon. is constituted by a ring 79 made of bronze or any other metal, secured on the wheel 2' and electrically insulated from the latter by a washer 79 made of fibre or any other suitable insulating material, as shown in Fig. 3. This ring is mounted on a carrying wheel r of the vehicle by screws p passing through sockets p made of insulating material.

The ring 70 is electrically connected to the interior of the vehicle by any means, for instance through the medium of a roller 77 .(Figs. 1 and 2) running in a groove 79 provided in the periphery of the ring 77 and held in this groove by a blade 77 acting as a spring and mounted on an armature p" electrically insulated from the frame of the locomotive, tender or wagon.

The conductor is connected, at one of its ends, to one of the poles of any source of electricity arranged within the vehicles and to the apparatuses inserted in the circuit of this source of.electricity, and at the end, is connected to the frame of the vehicle.

The conductor ,7 is connected, at one of its ends, to the other pole of the source of electricity and, at the other end, to a terminal p (Fig, 1) carried by the blade 39".

c The contact device arranged on the railway track isconstituted by a flexible blade capable of comingin contact, in any manner whatever, with the ring 79. It is constituted, for instance as shown in Fig. 2, by a metallic flexible blade 9 mounted on'a wooden member g. This flexible blade 9 and the wooden member 9 are secured on thesleepers of the track. It extends above the level of the rail, which it must not touch, and is arranged at such an height that it can be engaged by the ring 22 when the latter passes over the said blade.

To the blade Q1 is secured a connection 9 connected to the row of rails on which runs the wheel 2' provided with the insulated rlng p.

The device operates as follows:

When the vehicle runs on the track the ring p comes in contact with the flexible blade 9 the circuit is closed and the current, coming from the source of electricity,

passes through the connection 9, terminal nection g and the apparatus inserted in the circuit to the other pole of the source of electricity.

What weclaim as our invention and tie sire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A current collector for railway vehicles, comprising: a rotary shoe secured on a carrying wheel of any vehicle and constituted by a metal ring mounted on the side of the wheel, this ring being insulated from the wheel by a sheet of insulating material and attached to the wheel by insulated fastening means-a device adapted to transmit within the vehicle the current collected by the ring, this device being constituted by a roller running in agroove provided on the periphery of the ring and secured by a spring to the frame of the vehicle by means of an insulated securing device.

2. A current collector for railway vehicles, comprising: a rotary shoe secured on a carrying wheel of any vehicle and constituted by a metal ring mounted on the side of the wheel, this ring being insulated from the wheel by a sheet of insulating material and secured to thewheel by insulated fastening means,-a device adapted to transmit within the vehicle the current collected by the ring, this device being constituted by a roller running in a groove provided in the periphery of the Wheel and secured by a spring to the frame of the vehicle by means of an insulated fastening means, a device, connected to the. rail by a connection, arranged on the side of the track and adapted to enter in engagement with the rotary shoe secured on a carrying Wheel of the vehicle.

3. A current collector for railway vehicles, comprising: a rotary shoe secured on a carrying Wheel of any vehicle constituted by a metal ring mounted on the side of the wheel, this ring being insulated from the the Wheel by a sheet of insulating material and secured to the Wheel by insulated fastening means,a device adapted to transit within the vehicle the current collected by the ring, this device being constituted by a roller running in a groove provided on the periphery of the ring and secured by a spring to the frame of the vehicle by means on an insulated fastening means,a device, connected to the rail by a connection, arranged on the side of the track and adapted to enter in engagement with the rotary shoe secured on a carrying Wheel of the vehicle, this device being constituted by a flexible metal blade mounted on a wooden member and coming in contact in any way whatever, either at the periphery or at the side, with the rotary shoe.

In testimony whereof We have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

RENE BIENVENUE. JOSEPH BIENVENUE; Witnesses:

HENRY T. WILCOX, GEORGES BONNEUIL. 

